


Short Circuit

by adiduck (book_people)



Series: Heterodyne!Sorin FanFanFic [3]
Category: Girl Genius
Genre: M/M, Masturbation, Unresolved Sexual Tension, no canon characters, squid.
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-14
Updated: 2015-05-14
Packaged: 2018-03-30 13:49:18
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,794
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3939154
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/book_people/pseuds/adiduck
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Bathtubus interruptus.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Short Circuit

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Nuée Ardente](https://archiveofourown.org/works/2067129) by [Asuka Kureru (Askerian)](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Askerian/pseuds/Asuka%20Kureru). 



> Thanks to the lovely Asuka Kureru, who has once again let me play in her sandbox, and also held my hand through my first foray into the "explicit" rating. Everyone should go and read her fic _Nuee Ardente_ , it's fantastic.

The way the roads were in the Empire, there were two ways to get to Corvidopia: through the Little Swamp or around it. The Little Swamp, which had once lived up to its name and now maintained it presumably for ironic purposes, or so that lazy map makers didn’t have to change what they were calling it maybe, was a vast, rolling expanse of smelly mud, Spark monsters who didn’t mind the damp, trees that were all at least twice as old as Veli was, and one winding, narrow trail that cut a drunken path through it. In good weather, more ambitious travelers (or travelers who were just in a hurry) could take the path and make it to Corvidopia in a day instead of the four it took to go all the way around. In poor weather, of course, the Swamp was a nightmare of epic proportions.

To be fair to Sorin, the day had looked absolutely clear when they’d entered the swamp five days ago.

“Vun, two, tree, _heave_.” Veli dug his hooves in and _wrenched_ at the caterpillar. In front of him and behind him, Chestibor and Andrej did the same, muscles bunching and teeth gritted. The wheels of the caterpillar gave a loud, thick _glurp_ noise and came slightly out of the mud for the precious three seconds they had before the road closed back up and glued everything back into place.

“ _Now_ ,” Zbignev called, from his perch on the front of the engine, hanging upside down and peering all along the muddy bottom of the caterpillar. Inside the engine, Sorin floored it.

The caterpillar shot forward. Veli whooped, grabbing on just as the caterpillar shot forward, brand new snowshoe-like extensions locking into place again and carrying them lightly over the mud in a straight, too fast line. The engine started to smoke _again_ just as Sorin started to curse, voice carried back to Veli on the breeze, but the edge of the Swamp was quickly coming up, just another three minutes, come on come _on_ —

The caterpillar went over a little hill and went flying, wheels spinning and sending mud spewing out in all directions, hitting everyone hanging onto the sides in a _whoosh_ of smelly muck, and then they hit the ground with a _bang_ and everyone scrambled to lean to keep the cars upright as the engine died again and the whole thing skidded to the side in one long swerve headed straight for the river they’d found on the fourth day and been following ever since—

“ _Brake_ ,” Sorin shouted, and Veli kicked the mudshoes into locked position, saw everyone along his side of the caterpillar do the same, and the shoes dug into the ground underneath them with a bang, sending dirt up in a cloud of dark, rot-smelling dust. The caterpillar came to a grinding, painful halt two feet from the river.

“Everyone okay?” Sorin yelled, poking a mud-spattered head out his window.

“Jah,” Veli shouted, adding his voice to the various other affirmatives echoing through the air.

Sorin slumped. “Good! Are we all the way out?”

“Ve iz!” Stani shouted from the back. Everyone cheered.

Sorin stay where he was, half hanging out the window, grinning even through the exhaustion. He’d spent the majority of the last five days straddling a live lava engine, elbow deep in the mechanisms and squinting grimly through wave after muddy wave of swamp water as he coaxed the damn thing back to life over and over again. It had nearly gone up in flames when the storm hit and the swamp rose up around them and swept them too far off the trail to find it again, it was a miracle they hadn’t had to abandon it and try to walk the Swamp on foot. “Let’s never do that again,” he suggested as Veli jumped off the side of the caterpillar and trotted up to him, grinning like a loon.

“Aw, hy liked de sqvid-tings, though,” Veli whined, at least a third teasing.

“Dose vere fon,” Zbignev agreed cheerfully, sliding down the front of the engine and landing with _almost_ all his weight on his recently busted leg. He didn’t even wince, so probably it was doing better now, good!

“I’m glad someone enjoyed them,” Sorin said wryly, and rolled his eyes at their toothy grins as he pulled his head back into the engine to properly open the door and jump out himself. “But now I am going to clean off, eat something, sleep for twelve hours and then fix the engine. With any luck, we’ll make Corvidopia by Saturday.”

“Dat’s fair,” Veli opined, scratching at an itchy patch of mud that was drying behind his ear. Sorin pulled a face as it fell off in a greenish-brown clump.

“Eugh, and all of you are going to bathe, too!” Veli blanched and opened his mouth to protest.

“Noooooo,” Lyubo whined for him, coming around the front of the caterpillar just in time to pull a fairly impressive puppy face.

“Yes,” Sorin insisted. “There is a river right over there. Veli, tell everyone I said get out and don’t come back until you aren’t wearing more of the swamp than you left behind.”

“Hoy, vat about hyu,” Veli asked, ignoring the muttered _traitor_ from Chestibor behind him pointedly. Sorin hadn’t said anything about soap, so Veli was actually feeling a lot better about the whole washing thing. The mud was _itchy_.

“I,” Sorin said, with an amount of fervor usually reserved for religious zealots, “am going to _fix the hot water heater_.”

Veli laughed. “Hokay, haff fun,” he said, ruffling Sorin’s gross damp hair. Sorin squinted his eyes shut in a grimace and then gave Veli a look of utter betrayal. Veli grinned back cheerfully until he got an eye roll and Sorin marched away rather than crack a smile. “Andrej,” he said, still watching Sorin walk away. “Kome vit me und grab Dario befur he hears ve iz gon vash so ve can throw him in.”

“…Hy tink iz too late,” Andrej said apologetically, adjusting his hat.

“Ho?”

“Jah, Chestibor und Zbignev already vent to tell efferyvun vhile hyu vos flirting vit Master Sorin.”

Veli cursed, and then bounced up and vaulted over the caterpillar, landing and then shooting out to the river as quickly as he could.

“Vhere’s Dario,” he shouted to the jaegers already in the water, running up and skidding to a halt right at the river’s edge.

In hindsight, he probably deserved to have Dario tackle him into the water from behind and then take off running. Still, by the time Veli extracted himself from the river bottom and also successfully escaped to land despite Milosh’s brave attempts to keep him there as long as possible via holding his head under the water, Dario was nowhere in sight.

Veli sighed. Well, upside, he was now more or less clean! He went off to find Dario and drag him back to the river by the ear.

It took a lot longer than he expected, to be frank. Dario, usually bright red, had over the course of the last few days slowly become a sort of greenish-brown color, which was actually excellent camouflage just here, outside the Little Swamp and newly coated with a layer of muck from their escape. Worse, Dario’s own scent had been lost in a sea of greater or lesser “swamp” smell, which meant Veli was left with physically finding a sign of where Dario had gone to track him with. Being a jaeger himself, Dario had left basically nothing. An hour later found Veli back at the swamp and covered in muck again. Deciding Dario probably wasn’t quite desperate enough not to wash to go back in _there_ , Veli turned around and went back, taking a brief trip to the river to clean off again.

The others had finished in the river long before he returned, and had started going through the motions of setting up camp a bit away from the still-horrible smelling and faintly smoking caterpillar by the time he reached them. Dario, of course, was not among them.

Veli looked mournfully at the pile of food that was being devoured almost as fast as it was being created, and then got back to the business of trying to think like a scaredy-jaeger who didn’t want to get his fur wet. _If I were Dario_ , he thought, _where would I hide? Somewhere nobody would look for me, hrm…_ He eyed the caterpillar again. If it was still smoking, it meant Sorin hadn’t gotten around to fixing the engine yet, and everyone would give it a wide berth in case the thing decided it had had enough of this “remaining solid” business and melted into a lava and molten metal puddle. Not in the engine, Dario wasn’t _stupid_ , so where…

Veli grinned, and headed to the last car, where the door to the washroom was slightly ajar. Where do you go when people are looking for you to make you wash? A washroom, obviously.

Veli snuck up to the door, making sure to make as little noise as possible. If he was quiet enough, he could probably even trip Dario into the tub and get the water running before he could respond! Not that Veli was bitter about being tackled or anything, he just liked to get debts out of the way as quickly as possible so he didn’t have to think about them anymore! Yes. Right.

He opened the door very carefully—one of the hinges was hanging a little off the side of the caterpillar, he noted absently, he should tell Sorin next he saw him—waited a minute for some sort of response, two minutes, three. Good, that had gone unnoticed. Veli stepped very carefully into the door frame, killing his glow and making sure he wasn’t at an angle to cast a shadow, and finally peered into the car.

Which was about when his brain came to a screaming, stuttering halt. Because Dario was not in the washroom, _Sorin_ was.

Sorin was laying in the tub, bare, wet limbs loose and sprawled over the edge. Light from the single lit lamp was dancing through the steam and over the rivulets of water trailing down and along the muscles of his shoulders and forearms, pooling at his elbows, his wrists, dripping off his fingers and onto the floor. His head was tipped back, exposing the long, unmarred line of his throat, flushed from the heat and damp from his dripping wet hair, which he’d raked back and away from his forehead. His eyes were closed, face relaxed and breathing even—not asleep, just…

Just…

Veli needed to walk away. He needed to—step back very slowly and—and Sorin would never find out about this. Veli just needed to pull his eyes away and—

Sorin shifted slightly, water sloshing along the sides of the tub, shoulders and chest muscles rippling under his skin in the lamp light, outlined by the wet, and he sighed, softly, relaxed further into the tub.

Veli's next breath got caught in his throat.

Sorin tensed all at once, eyes snapping open as he shot into a sitting position, water streaming down his chest. He met Veli's eyes, his own eyes blazing, mouth half open to--object? Yell? Ask what had happened? Veli couldn't tell, caught like a fly in a glue trap, pinned by Sorin's gaze.

Sorin's stare went from angry to confused, from confused to--Veli couldn't move, watched helplessly as a blush slowly spread over Sorin's face, across the bridge of his nose and down his throat, as he chewed his lip, absently, leaning forward towards Veli unconsciously. Water dripped from his hair onto his neck, ran down his throat to pool at his Adam's apple. The air changed, hot with steam and thick with--with attraction, with--

Veli breathed in, shakey, had a moment where he could almost _see_ himself walking into the room and closing the door behind him. Putting his hands on that flushed, wet skin. Following that water droplet with his tongue.

The heat in Sorin's eyes said he wouldn't mind.

"Sorry," Veli forced himself to say, and somehow turned, ripped his eyes away and walked from the caterpillar car before he could--before--

"Hoy, Veli! Vhere iz hyu--"

"Der river," Veli said, only half listening to what was even coming out of his mouth. "Gots to vash--svamp muck--beck een a leedle bit, dun vait fur me." He didn’t wait for a response, kept walking out past the camp and the trees leaning into the river, walked right up to the water and jumped downstream, pulling himself into a ball and grabbing his hat before he hit the surface.

The water was cold—a shock, good—but not cold enough.

He stayed under the water for a few minutes, held his breath and let the current carry him a little ways downstream before he put his hooves down and pulled himself out of the current, sputtering. The camp wasn’t in sight anymore, only a plume of smoke drifting lazily above the trees maybe twenty minutes away on foot to give him a sense of distance.

Sorin was probably still in the caterpillar.

Oh god.

Veli let himself fall backwards into the river, spread his arms and legs as he floated to the surface again. Let the water carry him further downstream. The water licked at his exposed skin, soft and cool and sending little shivers down his spine, the sound of it bring to vivid clarity Sorin relaxing further, his lips parting just a little to let out a sound--

It wasn't helping the hard-on he was sporting, at any rate. Veli growled from deep in his chest, frustrated with himself. This wasn't--good, right, what he wanted (he wanted him, oh hellfire he did, he _did_ ).

Well, fine then. If it wouldn't go away on its own, Veli would just _make_ it, take care of it quick and wash off in the river before he headed back. At this distance, maybe the smell would have dissipated enough by then that the others would leave him alone about it. He reached for his belt--too fast, he started to sink, had to tip forward and catch himself on the bottom of the river. The water was well up to his shoulders here, he had to kick a little before he gained enough traction to stand upright. Argh, damn it... He undid his belt and unbuttoned his pants before kicking himself back up to floating again. Fine, fast and rough was apparently not in the cards if he wanted to stay in the water.

He wrapped his hand around his prick--his fingers were starting to get a little cold, just--just a bit cooler than normal, he shivered--pumped once. Okay, he was still floating, just needed to stay--mm--stay loose. His hooves curled a little as he began moving his hand again, tight and quick as he could manage without sinking. He tried to stop thinking, focused on the water lapping at his skin, his hand on his prick, the slight chill--it hadn't been cold in the caterpillar car, steam everywhere, that was different, he could focus on that without--

Without, mm, thinking about Sorin's hands, strong and stark against the dark tub, the light playing off the water on his skin, his eyes staring straight into Veli with, with an invitation, god. He could have--he kicked a little, loosened his shoulders in the water--could have sunk into the water with him, covered Sorin's naked body with his, bit Sorin's lower lip himself, maybe, left a mark on--on all that smooth skin on his neck, shoulders, chest... Tasted the water on him, _saturated_ himself in--ah, Sorin's heat, his scent, could have—

Strong arms around him, beautiful, calloused hands trailing down his back, Sorin stretched out under him, head thrown back and lips parted and Veli could--he-- _ah--_

Veli came, arched into his hand, tensed all over, and sank like a rock.

He came up sputtering on inhaled river water, made his way choking onto the bank, coughed up what felt like half the water he'd just been floating in, eyes watering and nostrils burning. Flopped down in the mud next to a tree and worked on breathing.

He couldn't figure out if he was shivering from aftershocks or the inevitable adrenalin rush of nearly drowning whilst jacking off in a river, this was _ridiculous_. Veli laughed, short and humorless, curled into a fetal position right there on the bank, sopping wet with his pants still undone, pressed his forehead to his knees.

Well, at least he hadn't lost his hat.

The problem wasn't that Veli didn't want it, because oh, Veli did. Not just sex, although that was _definitely_ part of it. Obviously. But Veli wanted… Sorin’s smile, the small, almost shy one that showed his dimples anyway. He wanted the face Sorin pulled when he wanted to be disapproving but really thought the situation was funny, wanted Sorin’s determination and his leaps of brilliance and his kindness, his dedication, wanted to hold him when he was sad and listen to the hopes and fears that you didn’t _tell_ a friend or a guard. He wanted to kiss Sorin’s forehead in the morning when he was still half asleep and bleary, wanted to tease him and flirt with him and smile at him however he wanted, whenever he wanted, and... Veli wanted _Sorin_ , all of him, all the time.

Veli sat up, leaned back against the tree root and stretched his legs out in front of him. It was quiet here, just the water and the trees and the birds, and it smelled strong, like damp earth and water and growing things. Veli could be anywhere right now, just a breath from his brothers on any one of countless campaigns, on any number of stake-outs waiting for something to happen. A fish surfaced briefly to eat a bug on the water, a quick flash of light on scales and a small plop and then gone again. Veli watched, vaguely, until another fly lighted, watched as that one got eaten too and was replaced.

The problem wasn’t the wanting, or even that he thought Sorin didn't want it, too. Sorin was twenty-one, in the throes of first love, and in general subtle like a brick to the head. Worse, he noticed things, was genuinely pretty good at reading people, so _Sorin_ knew that _Veli_ felt the same, and Veli knew that Sorin knew that Veli—it was a mess.

Veli was sure that Sorin had excellent reasons for not making a move in favor of sitting around making doe eyes at Veli and occasionally giving him the smile with the dimples and the bright flashing eyes and generally being attractive and sweet and interesting and wonderful in Veli’s general direction. Veli could even guess what some of them were! Sorin got uncomfortable when they reminded him that they would do what he wanted, whatever he wanted, just because he wanted it. Veli suspected that mixed pretty badly with the idea of sex in Sorin’s head, stayed his hand. It didn’t matter, really. Veli was glad Sorin hadn’t tried anything, because this way Veli wouldn’t have to turn him down.

The problem was that Veli couldn’t be what Sorin needed a lover to be. Sorin was a Heterodyne, was _Veli’s_ Heterodyne, was going to be _the_ Heterodyne someday, and Blecherville and Krakome aside, Sorin was generally not the traditional sort of Heterodyne, wouldn’t be raiding and pillaging his way through Europa. He’d need… diplomacy, would need to rub elbows in political circles, and he’d need the people closest to him to do the same. A wife, someday, and his children (and red _fire_ did Sorin need to have children), and his lover, if Sorin could bring himself to have one of those after marrying (debatable, Sorin was pretty damn monogamous, Veli could already tell). He’d need someone who could stand up with him in that world, and Veli… couldn’t. He wasn’t wired for it, and quite frankly it sounded _horrible_. All those stupid rules and codes and—urgh. Veli had made his choice there a long time ago. He’d chosen the army, the jaegerkin, the Heterodynes.

So he had two choices: take advantage of this time before Sorin entered that world, steal a few years and then leave just when Sorin needed support the most, and meanwhile Sorin wouldn’t be free to explore, to grow, to learn about himself and meet new people and maybe find that partner he needed because Veli had decided to be selfish… that, or do nothing.

Not much of a choice, really.

It didn’t matter, Veli told himself, sitting in the mud on a river bank with his pants undone, wet and miserable. It really, really didn’t. Veli would do a hell of a lot more for his Heterodyne than stay in the background and pine for sixty years as the man he loved moved on with his life, and it wasn’t… wasn’t even like he wouldn’t be in Sorin’s life! He got to _stay_ this way, didn’t have to tell Mistress Tereza and the Generals about the change in circumstances and get pulled from his post; it wasn’t really any of their business what went on in Veli’s head, not if it didn’t affect his job. So he got to stay, and he got to be Sorin’s friend, and one of the eleven keepers of his secrets. Got his fears and his successes and his smiles, and the knowledge that, once when he was young, he’d loved Veli back. It was enough.

It was.

It still hurt, but he’d survive.

Veli stayed on the river bank for another half an hour, throwing rocks at the fish as they surfaced to eat the bugs and then catching them as they floated dead down the current, ate them raw and threw their bones back into the river to attract more flies.Then he cleaned off again and pulled his pants closed and went back. Sorin had long since finished in the bath, of course, and he blushed scarlet when he saw Veli, but he didn’t say anything about it and neither did anyone else, so Veli let it go.

Dario came back just before nightfall, still covered in stinky swamp mud and cheerfully carrying three squid, which he dropped by the fire and declared to be dinner.

Veli threw him in the river, and after the ensuing tussle proceeded to steal all of his squid. He felt this was the least Dario deserved.


End file.
